• Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
    • Apologetics
    • Atheism
    • Bible
    • Devotion
    • Church
    • Evangelism
    • Hiddenness of God
    • Leadership
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Pluralism
    • Science and Faith
    • Theology
  • My Books
  • Video
  • Talks
  • Invite Me
No Result
View All Result
Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
    • Apologetics
    • Atheism
    • Bible
    • Devotion
    • Church
    • Evangelism
    • Hiddenness of God
    • Leadership
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Pluralism
    • Science and Faith
    • Theology
  • My Books
  • Video
  • Talks
  • Invite Me
No Result
View All Result
Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry
No Result
View All Result

Conversations from Campus: The Apostate

October 13, 2017

I hadn’t seen him in a year so we had a nice warm handshake when he showed up.

Two minutes later he announced he’d left the faith.

He could no longer condone the morality of God as seen in the OT:

  • the slaughter of the Canaanites.
  • the Mosaic law allowing men to force themselves upon women and take them as wives.
  • (etc.)

“Morally reprehensible,” Dan said with disgust.

All this was sounding familiar to me.

“Dan, I’m disappointed. This sounds like atheist internet rhetoric, not biblical scholarship. Where are you getting all this?”

He admitted reading Christopher Hitchens and visiting some atheist websites.

“I’m surprised. You’re an ‘A’ student and you know the value of reading professional literature inside your field of study.”

He nodded.

“And yet you allow an amateur like Hitchens to guide your theology?”

“You’re shaming me.”

“I have a friend,” I said firmly, “who’s a bricklayer. He’s good at it. But would I want him doing my dental work? Fixing my car? Prescribing my meds?”

We had a tense back-and-forth for a few minutes.

“Okay, what should I do?” he finally asked.

“Read some real theologians, for and against your position (I gave him some names). Stay within the professional guild. If you’re going to leave the faith, at least do it thoughtfully.”

********

I wish I could say all my conversations go well and that I never say the wrong thing. Not true. I was totally second-guessing myself on this one.

How might have I responded differently to Dan?

Share120Tweet75
Rick Mattson

Rick Mattson

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Me

Rick Mattson Outreach Ministry

Rick Mattson

Evangelist & Writer

Hello & welcome to my blog! My name is Rick Mattson and I'm a traveling evangelist/apologist.

SUBSCRIBE! You'll be notified by email whenever a new post comes out
Loading

Categories

  • Apologetics (155)
  • Atheism (47)
  • Bible (33)
  • Church (71)
  • Devotion (102)
  • Evangelism (56)
  • Hiddenness of God (9)
  • Leadership (65)
  • Philosophy (7)
  • Religious Pluralism (14)
  • Science and Faith (3)
  • Theology (2)

Popular

  • A Gen Z Additive, Part 1 of 3: Who is Gen Z?

    A Gen Z Additive, Part 1 of 3: Who is Gen Z?

    341 shares
    Share 136 Tweet 85
  • Apologetics for Kids, Part 1 of 2

    336 shares
    Share 134 Tweet 84
  • Tradition as a Guardrail

    327 shares
    Share 131 Tweet 82
  • Apologetics for Kids, Part 2

    320 shares
    Share 128 Tweet 80
  • Muslim Dialogue

    314 shares
    Share 126 Tweet 79
Facebook Twitter

© 2022 Site by 5BCreative

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
    • Apologetics
    • Atheism
    • Bible
    • Devotion
    • Church
    • Evangelism
    • Hiddenness of God
    • Leadership
    • Philosophy
    • Religious Pluralism
    • Science and Faith
    • Theology
  • My Books
  • Video
  • Talks
  • Invite Me